| Bloomberg Hong Kong’s biggest developers signaled they want cheaper land as the government seeks to increase supply and curb speculation after home prices surged 28 percent this year.
“The developers are requesting the government put the prices closer to the market level,” Stewart Leung, an executive director at New World Development Ltd., told reporters in Hong Kong today after a meeting with the city’s Financial Secretary John Tsang. “We also hope that the government will increase the opportunities for selling land via applications.”
 Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., the world’s biggest developer by market value, and rivals including Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. fell in Hong Kong trading today after the government tightened downpayment requirements for luxury homes, and suspended mortgage insurance for rental properties. On Oct. 14, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang expressed concern about a possible property “bubble.”
“These measures are unlikely to cool down the market significantly as they won’t hurt the ability of those who can afford to buy these homes or want to rent properties for yield,” Patrick Chow, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Everbright Securities Co., said by phone today.
Sun Hung Kai dropped 3.4 percent to HK$118.20 at the close, trimming this year’s gains to 83 percent. It earlier declined as much as 5.1 percent, the most since June 8. Cheung Kong, controlled by Li Ka-shing, Asia’s second-richest man, fell 3 percent to HK$102.30.
Land Auctions
The government in January 2004 introduced a system of selling land through auctions only after developers promise to pay a minimum amount, part of an undisclosed reserve price.
On May 5, the government sold a residential building site for a higher-than-estimated HK$61 million ($7.9 million), the first of the fiscal year that started April 1. It was the first public sale of a building site at least partially designated for housing since May 2008, according to the Lands Department.
Executives from some of the city’s largest developers, including Thomas Kwok, vice chairman of Sun Hung Kai; Cheung Kong Deputy Chairman Victor Li; Robert Ng, chairman of Sino Land Co.; and Hang Lung Properties Ltd. Chairman Ronnie Chan met John Tsang at government headquarters today.
Henderson Land Development Co. earlier this month said it sold a flat for what it called a world-record HK$88,000 a square foot. That announcement came hours after Donald Tsang said the government may release more land for developers to stem price increases.
The index that tracks six of the city’s biggest developers had HK$20.7 billion wiped off its value today after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority raised deposit levels for luxury apartments on Oct. 23. The city’s de facto central bank made the change, the first since 1991, after record-low interest rates fueled a surge in home prices this year.
‘Stop Price Appreciation’
The measures gave investors a reason to sell property stocks to profit from this year’s gains, Everbright’s Chow said. He downgraded Sun Hung Kai to “accumulate” from “buy” “simply because the stock has risen so much,” he said.
Sino Land, this year’s best performer on the Hang Seng Property Index, fell 5.4 percent to HK$15.52. The index declined 3.6 percent, making it today’s weakest performing sub-group on the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
The measures “may reduce volumes in primary and secondary markets, which could indirectly slow or stop price appreciation for the rest of the year,” David Ng, head of regional property research at Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, said in a report e- mailed today.
Henderson, controlled by billionaire Lee Shau-kee, fell 4.3 percent to HK$52.90.
New Mortgages
Banks in the city of 7 million people have cut mortgage rates to the lowest since records began. Hong Kong home prices have risen 28 percent this year as of the week ended Oct. 18, according to the Centa-City Leading Index compiled by Centaline Property Agency Ltd. and the City University of Hong Kong.
New mortgage loans approved dropped for a third straight month in September from a month earlier, the HKMA said today. Loans last month fell 2.5 percent to HK$33.3 billion from August, it said.
Of the mortgage loans approved, 42.4 percent have an interest margin of more than 2.5 percentage points below the nominal best lending rate, according to the statement on HKMA’s Web site. That compares with 46.9 percent in August.
Sales of homes in Hong Kong worth more than HK$10 million almost tripled in September, according to the Land Registry. The property market has been boosted by an influx of money from China, where a $585 billion stimulus package has driven an economic rebound.
Maximum Loan
The Hong Kong Mortgage Corp., a government-backed home-loan insurer, said Oct. 23 it will limit coverage on loans of more than 70 percent of a residence’s value to borrowings of HK$12 million or less, down from a maximum of HK$20 million.
The impact on property prices will “probably start at the beginning of next year when buyers become more convinced that interest rates are going to go up in the middle of the year,” Stanley Wong, deputy general manager at Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Asia Ltd., the Hong Kong unit of China’s biggest lender, said in an interview today.
For home buyers wishing to borrow as much as 95 percent of a property’s value, the corporation cut the maximum loan to HK$6 million from HK$8 million, the HKMC said. The agency will also suspend insurance for homes that aren’t owner-occupied, it said.
The HKMA said banks can lend as much as HK$12 million for homes priced below HK$20 million, effectively meaning that downpayments on properties between HK$17 million and HK$20 million would range from about 60 percent to about 70 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chia-Peck Wong in Hong Kong at cpwong@bloomberg.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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